


second is the best

by FeatheryMinx



Category: Naruto
Genre: (if u squint), (there is no real discussion of the mpreg beyond "hey it's possible"), Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Arranged Marriage, Arranged marriage to end conflict, Character Entering Into M/M Marriage Invents Mpreg In Hopes Of Pleasing Their Spouse With An Heir, Enemies to Lovers, F/M, If Character A Can't Have Their Loved One They'll Marry Younger Sibling B (& Fall In Love With B), M/M, Mutual Pining, Political marriage but mutual pining, Political marriage to enemy that turns to love, Uchiha Izuna Lives, Warring States Period (Naruto)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-28
Updated: 2020-08-03
Packaged: 2021-03-06 06:33:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 13,703
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25569049
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FeatheryMinx/pseuds/FeatheryMinx
Summary: Hashirama broke his heart, taking away one of the few loves he had. It was only fair, then, that Madara do the same in return.“I want Tobirama.”
Relationships: Senju Hashirama/Uchiha Madara (one-sided), Senju Hashirama/Uzumaki Mito, Senju Tobirama & Uchiha Izuna, Senju Tobirama/Uchiha Madara, Uchiha Izuna & Uchiha Madara
Comments: 12
Kudos: 517
Collections: Just Married Exchange 2020





	1. Madara

**Author's Note:**

> Hi @ fencesit! I did my best to fulfill the tag you requested! (I started off with the Character A marries their loved one's sibling Character B, and then it sorta just. got out of hand and I have a lot of the other tags in there as well?)
> 
> I hope you enjoy it!

Madara heard a cry. In the heat of battle, it took him a moment, but then he realized why it sounded so familiar. “Izuna!” Abandoning his fight with Hashirama, Madara rushed over to his younger brother, who was bleeding heavily from his side.. After a slight hesitation, Hashirama followed.

Madara slung Izuna’s arm over his shoulder, supporting him while Madara pressed his other hand to the wound. As they turned to retreat, Madara saw Hashirama approaching them. Drawing his sword with his bloody hand, he pointed it straight at Hashirama. “No closer.” Madara heard the other Senju yell, and saw ~~the kyōkan~~ Hashirama’s brother move as if to attack him, but Hashirama himself did nothing but hold up his hands. One, he held up in Tobirama’s direction, a silent command which stopped him in his tracks. The other, he held towards Izuna, sheathed in a buzzing blue light. Healing jutsu. Madara looked at the blood gushing from Izuna’s side, then to Hashirama’s painfully earnest face.

“Brother…” Izuna murmured discontentedly, seeing the decision on Madara’s face, “Don’t—”

“Now is not the time, Izuna!” Madara slowly nodded to Hashirama and dropped his weapon in favor of supporting Izuna more. Hashirama came over and pressed his hand to Izuna’s wound. He worked quietly, with intense focus, and Madara couldn’t help but stare at the man he loved. Not moments ago, he’d been fighting Madara with that same intensity, and now he was applying it to instead help him. Madara watched the movements of Hashirama’s hand, the care with which he healed his little brother, and sighed. Kami, how he owed him. Kami help him, how he loved him.

Hashirama finished, leaving a tender, inflamed patch of skin behind. “I did what I could, but he’ll still have to be careful.” He drew away.

“Thank you, Hashirama.”

“I—” Hashirama hesitated, then started again. “Madara. We’ve lost brothers to this conflict. I don’t want to lose anymore. Today, it was almost Izuna. Tomorrow, it could be Tobi. Please? I don’t want it to go that far, and it doesn’t have to. We could, **we should put an end to this. Think about it… If the two mightiest clans, the Uchiha and Senju, were to join hands… Every neighboring country would see how futile it was to challenge us. Eventually the fighting would cease.”**

Madara sighed. Hashirama was so optimistic. Idealistic, even. But there was a chance he wasn’t wrong, and Madara wanted that, wanted it so badly. He sighed. “Fine. Meet at the creek in seven days.”

“Really?” Immediately Hashirama’s face brightened, a wide, childish grin replacing the thin frown from before. “That’s great! I’ll send someone with details later! Madara, you won’t regret this, thank you, thank you so much!” At that, Hashirama bounded away with the rest of his clan, leaving the Uchihas to recuperate before they left as well. Madara smiled wryly, thinking how absolutely ridiculous it was that Hashirama was the one thanking _him_ , after he had just healed Izuna without prompting. He was so good, so kind-hearted, so selfless. Madara wished he could have him.

* * *

Back at the compound, Madara left Izuna to rest while he called for a clan meeting. The shinobi who were injured didn’t attend, because Madara wasn’t heartless, and also because they’d been present when he agreed to try for peace. The rest of the clan, however, needed to be informed that their life-long enmity with the Senju was, hopefully, about to end. ‘This,’ Madara thought, ‘is going to go _so well_.’

“Thank you all for gathering so quickly. I’ve called this meeting to inform you that the Uchiha clan will be negotiating a peace treaty in one weeks time with the Senju clan.” Immediately, the assembled clan members began talking, some louder and angrier than others, but Madara simply raised his voice and continued speaking. “In preparation for the negotiations, I want all shinobi who have been hired for offensive missions to cancel those contracts. If there are any issues with that, bring them to me and I will deal with our contracted employers personally. Clan members are expected to remain within the outskirts of the compound, and there will be NO fighting with the Senju for this period of time. If-”

“What if they attack us? You expect us to just roll over and die?”

Madara ignored the outburst and continued, “If there are concerns regarding the terms of peace which we will be agreeing to, you may bring those up after I finish here, or you may bring those concerns to me privately. I expect all of you to cooperate, no matter your personal feelings towards the Senju, so that we may all prosper in the future. That is all.” As he expected, the crowd didn’t disperse after he finished speaking. Instead, his shinobi began peppering him with questions.

“What if they attack us? You expect us to just roll over and die?”

“Why do you think I want all our shinobi to remain on our land? I do not expect them to attack, but in the case that they do, we will _defend_ our clan.”

Giichi, a shinobi a few years younger than Izuna, asked, “What does the outskirts of the compound mean?”

“I mean the outskirts. Stay within patrol range.” Giichi and a few of the other young shinobi groaned, and Madara winced. Being confined in the compound wouldn’t be enjoyable for them. “Fine, fine. You can go further out in the direction _away_ from the Senju compound. No more than a few miles though. Takeo, can you add men to the patrol roster to cover the extra area? Additionally, have a fourth more patrols than normal, to be safe.”

Takeo bowed. “Of course, Madara-sama.”

“If a Senju comes within sight of our patrol, is that considered an attack?” The question came from Sueko, one of his only female shinobi, and surprisingly one of his most aggressive ones.

“No, Sueko. An attack is only if they actively attempt to harm us. A Senju messenger should be coming soon with details of the negotiation. They are to be _safely_ directed straight to me. Any other questions?”

No questions came, and after waiting a short while, Madara moved to dismiss everyone. Just as he did so, someone cried out, “Why are you even considering negotiating with the Senju scum? They’re brutes, they deserve to DIE for what they’ve done to us. How could you betray us like this? They’ve killed Uchiha, they killed _my parents!”_

Madara had been calm until then, but the accusation of betrayal was too much on top of the rest of the day. “And do you want them to kill your children, Teiji?” The callous words left shock written on many of the faces in the crowd. Madara didn’t care. “How much are you willing to lose for the sake of avenging past wrongs? You’re right. We’ve lost innumerable shinobi to them. Every single member of our clan has lost someone at their hands. But I am trying to make sure we don’t lose anyone else, and I won’t be called a traitor for it. You’re all dismissed.”

The crowd scattered, shinobi either heading to fill in those few clan members who didn’t attend, or otherwise talking quietly amongst themselves. Elder Suzu limped towards Madara. Instead of heading back to Izuna’s room, as he wished to do, he let the Elder catch him. “Don’t let me keep you, Madara. Come. I’ll walk with you.” As they made their way to where Izuna was recuperating, Elder Suzu chattered idly. They neared their destination and suddenly he said, “You wouldn’t remember this, but before your father was Clan Head, the position was filled by his older brother, Uchiha Reizei. Reizei was a wonderful child, full of energy. He dragged your father into many a mess, much to his chagrin. But that pure, unbridled energy worked against him when he became Clan Head. He was reckless, impulsive. We were very lucky he trusted Tajima, or we would have been run into the ground. As it was, your father was his voice of reason. And Reizei, in turn, helped your father be a little more excitable. It faded, a little, when Reizei died, but the influence the brothers had on each other as they led the clan was undeniable.” The pair reached Izuna’s door, and Elder Suzu leaned against the wall.

“Coming inside, Uncle?” The older man shook his head. Madara bowed, and moved to leave. As he crossed into his brother’s room, the Elder’s voice rang softly behind him.

“Take care, Madara. You and Izuna lost Tajima too soon.” Madara’s brow furrowed, but before he could try and puzzle out what Elder Suzu meant by that, Izuna groaned, and Madara went to attend to his brother, leaving those words behind.

“Izuna? How long have you been up? How are you feeling?”

“I’m fine, Madara, quit worrying.” Izuna pushed himself up into a sitting position, and Madara reached over to adjust the pillows at his back. Izuna batted his hands away. “If anything, brother, I should be worried about you. Hikaku came by earlier. Are you _really_ negotiating peace with the Senju?”

“Not you too, Izuna. I’ve gotten enough of this from everyone else.”

“And for good reason! Madara, they killed our brothers!”

“And we killed theirs! Otouto, I almost lost you today. Can’t you see? I have a chance to never lose you again. _Of course_ I’m going to take it.”

Izuna sighed. “I suppose if I can’t stop you, I’ll have to be there to make sure you don’t do anything stupid.”

* * *

Seven days later, Madara and his party set out. The terms of the negotiations were this: each clan could bring their head, their second and third in command, and their spouses, if any of them were married. They were _supposed_ to bring _minimal_ weapons, but. His brother was hurt. Of course he was going to need more weapons than the rest of them. Madara glanced at Izuna, who had set out with great fervor, but was beginning to limp slightly. “Izuna. Do we need to stop?”

“I’m barely limping, Madara! I’m fine, quit your worrying!” As they got closer to the creek, Izuna began taking slower, more deliberate steps in an attempt to cover up his limp. Madara exchanged a tired glance with Hikaku, his third in command, at Izuna’s antics. Before he could say anything though, they reached the clearing by the creek where the two parties were set to meet.

The Senju delegation was already there. Madara quickly took in the scene, and was surprised at who he saw. There was, of course, Hashirama, looking calm and regal ~~and absolutely gorgeous~~ , and next to him, his brother, equipped as though he was going into battle. Madara would have said something, but decided against it, since his own brother was similarly equipped. The surprise came in that the brothers were accompanied not by one other person, but by two. A short statured redhead was to Hashirama’s left, and a taller brunette to Tobirama’s right. Madara could hardly tell which one was the kyōkan’s wife, because both of them had a dangerous aura. He looked sidelong at Chizue, Hikaku’s wife, who had a few kunai with her, but nothing more than the most basic of training. The Senju women looked more like warriors than wives, but he figured the dark haired woman was likely the wife, on account of where she stood.

It didn’t matter, either way. Madara wasn’t here for them, he was here to secure the safety of his clan, and, if he played it right, maybe to secure Hashirama. He smiled at the other man and bowed lightly. Hashirama returned it. Both groups sat, legs tucked beneath them, and immediately Hashirama began talking in that enthusiastic, optimistic tone of his.

“I’m so glad we all made it here today! This is a monumental meeting for both our clans, and I want to start it off right! How about we each introduce ourselves, and then we can get started with the treaty itself?”

“Very well. I am Uchiha Madara, head of the Uchiha clan. My brother and second in command, Uchiha Izuna. My third, Uchiha Hikaku, and his wife Uchiha Chizue.”

Hashirama looked put out for a moment, then recovered and began introducing his clan members. “On the far end is Senju Toka, my third in command. My brother, Senju Tobirama, my second in command. I am, as you know, Senju Hashirama, head of the Senju clan. And this—” Hashirama reached over and gently clasped the redhead’s fingers with his own. “This is my lovely wife, Uzumaki Mito.”

* * *

The peace negotiations were going well. At least, Madara thought they were. He was letting Hikaku handle most of the actual negotiating, and Izuna was there to pick at the terms until he was satisfied it benefitted the Uchiha enough. Madara was letting them handle it, because if it was in his hands he probably would have destroyed their chance at peace in his rage. He sat silently, pretending to observe.

Truly, Madara could hardly care less what was being said during the negotiations. He knew he ought to care more. That was his duty. But the moment that accursed word came out of Hashirama’s mouth, Madara stopped feeling any sense of duty. All he had was his old, consuming love for Hashirama, and that was being burned through by his rage. Hashirama was _married_ , and he hadn’t even known. Hashirama didn’t love him. Bitter thoughts of marriage, of husbands and lost love, swirled around his mind, and then it came to him.

Hashirama broke his heart, taking away one of the few loves he had. It was only fair, then, that Madara do the same in return. Madara waited for a lull in the negotiations, a moment of silence for him to speak. When it came, his voice was steady.

“I want Tobirama.”

The words rang through the clearing, and everyone turned to look at him. They said nothing, so he repeated himself. “I want Tobirama. Or rather, his hand in marriage.” At those words, chaos erupted.

“Brother, you can’t be—”

“Madara, what do you—”

“Madara-sama, are you—”

Madara held up a hand to silence the indignant splutters of the Senju and the anxious questions from his own clansmen. “A gesture of goodwill. You said it yourself, Hashirama. If the Uchiha and the Senju join hands, no other shinobi could challenge us. And while this peace could accomplish that, it’s fragile. We need something to bind us together. So Tobirama and I wed.” Hashirama glanced at Tobirama. Seeing the adoration Hashirama had for his little brother, Madara’s resolve softened. He offered, “If you’re worried about missing your brother, you need not fear. After some time, a few years maybe, if all goes well, he can come back to you in the form of our childhood dream. Peace. Our own village. We could all live happily together.” Those last words are said with a hint of bitterness, but Hashirama looked too lost in consideration to notice. Tobirama’s eyes narrowed, but Madara couldn’t care less about the opinions of the bastard.

“This—” Hashirama hesitated, then looked ruefully at his brother. “Give us some time to discuss this offer?”

“Of course.” His clanmates gathered around him while the Senju delegation stepped back a few paces. Madara kept an eye on Hashirama even as he was assaulted by questions.

“Madara, what are you thinking? Kami, why didn’t you _tell us_ about this beforehand so I could smack some sense into you?”

“Izuna…” Hashirama was deep in conversation with his wife.

“Don’t ‘Izuna’ me! I literally told you I was coming along to stop you from doing anything stupid. _How_ am I meant to do that if you won’t tell me anything?” The other Senju, Toka, was attempting to draw Tobirama into a discussion, but he just kept looking at Hashirama and his wife with tightly pursed lips.

“I’m not doing anything stupid, otouto.”

Izuna looked ready to argue, but Hikaku stepped in. “The logic is consistent. It’s a sensible decision, but Madara-sama, does it have to be you? You’re one of our strongest shinobi, not just with your Sharingan but with everything else as well. Surely…”

Madara distractedly replied, “Surely that looks better, for our purposes?” In the distance, he could see Tobirama snapping at Hashirama, gesticulating wildly.

“I suppose.” Hikaku sounded thoughtful. He went over to converse with his wife. Madara chose to continue observing the Senju.

Hashirama placed a hand on his brother's shoulder, but Tobirama pushed it off and continued his tirade. He was loud enough that Madara could hear him yelling, “I am not cattle, to be traded off for a peace treaty!” Hashirama was quieter, but Madara caught a few words. “. . . good . . . safe . . . trust . . .”

A voice to his left interrupted Madara’s eavesdropping. “I still can’t believe you’re actually going to marry a Senju.”

“Be glad I didn’t have you do it.”

“Ever so thankful.” Izuna fell silent, and Madara refocused on Hashirama. “But. Madara. You know I would, right?”

Madara turned to his little brother and smiled. “I know, Izuna. But this is something I have to do.”

When he turned back to look at the Senju, Hashirama had the most defeated expression he’d ever seen on his face. “I’’d never force you to marry him, or anyone. You know that, Tobi. But please, I beg you to consider it.” Hashirama walked back towards Madara, leaving the two women to comfort Tobirama. That, or convince him. Who knew what Senju women did.

When everyone was seated again and the negotiation resumed, Tobirama was the one who spoke first. “I’ll marry you for the sake of the treaty, but not right now. If we’re doing this for the sake of a village, then I want our marriage to be the first celebration of it.”

Madara inhaled sharply. That… wouldn’t do. “The whole point of the marriage is to tangibly bind our clans together. A promise of marriage holds the same weight as the promise of peace on paper: very little.”

Tobirama closed his eyes and inhaled. Only after a long exhale did he speak again. “I know. We’ll be engaged until the time comes for the ceremony.” The Uzumaki woman nodded reassuringly at him, and the brunette lightly tapped his arm. Tobirama took another breath. “We finish negotiating the treaty today. When you and Hashirama sign it, I’ll officially be engaged to you. As part of the engagement, I’ll come live with you in the Uchiha compound until we build the village. Is that tangible enough?”

Madara nodded. “That should do.” With murmurs of agreement from everyone else, negotiation of the other terms resumed. After this major development, none of them had the energy to be too strict with the remaining terms, and the treaty was quickly finalized.

* * *

Four days later, Madara greeted the Hashirama just outside of the Uchiha clan compound. For such a monumental treaty, the ratification itself was a simple process. After the eight people present signed the treaty, the Uchiha were ready to leave, but the Senju lingered. Madara turned back to see Tobirama embracing the brunette. “Don’t worry imouto, I’ll visit.” He let go of her and turned to the Uzumaki, who squeezed his hands. Then, Tobirama faced Hashirama. It looked as if Tobirama was ready to leave without a word when Hashirama grabbed him. Tobirama didn’t hesitate to hug his brother back.

“I’ll miss you, Tobi.”

“I’ll miss you too, brother.”

After a long moment, the brothers broke apart. Tobirama stepped away and slowly began walking with the Uchiha towards their compound.


	2. Tobirama

Tobirama woke to the sunlight streaming in through the window of his new room. Blinking rapidly, he stretched and threw the pack he’d used as a pillow into the corner where the rest of his belongings lay. Tobirama pushed himself up off the ground and left his room, leaving the door ajar. As he was making his way to the bathroom, he found Izuna lounging in the living room.

“How’d you sleep?”

“Well enough,” said Tobirama sardonically.

The tone must have registered with Izuna, for he turned around to look at Tobirama. In doing so, he saw through the open door of Tobirama’s room. Izuna sighed. “My brother is an idiot.” Presumably he was referring to the bed in the room which had been left bare. That was confirmed when the other man rose and made his way to a side closet from which he pulled a set of sheets. “You should have said something, you know.”

“By the time I was in the room, both of you had retired. There wasn’t anyone to ask, and I didn’t want to rummage through your house my first night here. That would have been impolite of me, don’t you think?”

Izuna laughed. “Impolite.” He shook his head and went to put the sheets on the bed. Tobirama followed. When they got into the room, Izuna looked around and said, “I can’t believe you didn’t unpack yesterday.”

“I like to take my time with these things.”

Izuna rolled his eyes and moved over to the bed. As he began stretching the sheets over it, small clouds of dust rose from where he’d put pressure on the mattress. Izuna glared at the mattress, and Tobirama marveled that it wasn’t ablaze, there was so much heat in his eyes. For all he knew, that was something the Sharingan actually was capable of. Tobirama watched as Izuna bodily dragged the mattress out into the back garden, where he began aggressively dusting it off. “Brother can be thoughtless sometimes.”

“Thoughtless, you say?”

“Sure.” Izuna began dragging the mattress back inside. “I mean, he knew you were coming and still didn’t have the room prepared properly. Idiot.”

“Well, I’m glad you think that’s all it is.”

“What do you mean?”

“Like you said. He knew I was coming, and yet left the room so… uncleanly. That’s more than just a little inhospitable, don’t you think?”

“What are you implying?”

Tobirama lifted the mattress back onto the bed frame, leaving Izuna to hold the sheets. “If the engagement is broken, so too would be the treaty.”

“Madara wouldn’t do that.”

“He wouldn’t, no. But I suppose he thinks that if he treats me poorly enough, I would be the one breaking the treaty instead of him. He wouldn’t be culpable.”

Izuna was incensed. “Madara wouldn’t do that! I don’t know what the Senju clan is like, if your mind creates such untrustworthy scenarios, but Madara values the clan, me, our bonds over all else. He wouldn’t endanger us just to make you lose face.”

Even as Izuna’s voice was rising, Tobirama stayed mellow. He didn’t have any reason to yell. “If that’s what you believe, then you don’t know him as well as you seem to think you do.”

“How _dare_ you—”

“Izuna? What in Kami’s name are you yelling about first thing in the morning?” Izuna glared at Tobirama, then stormed out of the room. Tobirama picked up the sheets which had been thrown aside haphazardly and began putting them on the bed.

“Brother, the state of Tobirama’s room was unacceptable! Why didn’t we have it ready for him yesterday?”

Madara peered into the room where Tobirama was finishing with the sheets. Dryly, he said, “I must have forgotten. My apologies, Tobirama. I hope it wasn’t too much of an inconvenience.”

Was he imagining the hint of contempt in Madara’s voice? No, he was sure it was there. Though it’d be a miracle if Izuna picked up on it, inattentive as he seemed to be. “Not too much, no. Thankfully, your brother noticed, so it won’t be an issue anymore.” Izuna looked back and forth between the two of them, taking in the stilted politeness they were wielding, and stalked out of the house.

Madara pursed his lips and said, “There’s food in the kitchen, make what you want.” Then he followed his brother out onto the engawa, where they conversed quietly. Tobirama considered breakfast, but he didn’t feel like eating just yet. He went back into his room and began unpacking his belongings.

Methodically, Tobirama organized his clothes, placing his shinobi gear in the back of the closet, and his downtime clothes near the front. He didn’t expect he would fight the Uchiha, nor did he expect he’d be allowed to fight with them, but he brought his gear anyway. Perhaps he’d be allowed to spar some of the Uchiha. Tobirama put his sword under the head of his bed, and stashed his less conspicuous weapons in clusters around the room. Then he looked at the books and trinkets he’d brought from home. There wasn’t anywhere convenient to store them, so he simply stacked them neatly and left them in the corner.

Satisfied at the state of his room, Tobirama went to go make himself some breakfast. He was in the middle of preparing some oyakodon when an irregular motion caught his eye. He turned to see Izuna and Madara coming back inside. The irregularity was Izuna. He was limping. Tobirama winced, knowing that the cause of the limp was his attack. “If the wound was still bothering you, you ought to have asked Hashirama to heal it.”

Izuna scoffed. “And what would we have offered in return? I most certainly am not about to put myself in the debt of a Senju.”

“There wouldn’t be a debt—”

“You’re right,” cut in Madara, “There wouldn’t be a debt, because he would simply be rectifying the harm _you_ caused.”

Tobirama was taken aback by the vitriol with which that statement was delivered. It was a battle. What else could he have done? Even Izuna seemed uncomfortable. “Madara...” he warned. Madara ignored him.

“You almost killed Izuna, you have no right to say anything about his injuries. And do you always need someone else to take responsibility for your actions? Heal him yourself, if you feel any remorse.”

“I—” Tobirama hadn’t realized Madara resented him for what he’d done. And he couldn’t change that. “I can’t. I don’t know medical ninjutsu.”

Madara scoffed, “Of course you don’t.” He strode away, leaving Izuna and Tobirama standing awkwardly in the kitchen.

Tobirama grimaced, then asked, “Oyakodon?”

“Please.”

Tobirama worked in silence while Izuna leaned against the counter. Once he’d served two bowls, Izuna traded him a pair of chopsticks, and they both began eating. After a while, Izuna said, “I don’t blame you. It was battle.”

“You don’t. He does.” Tobirama picked discontentedly at a piece of chicken with his chopsticks, then set his half-eaten bowl down. “Earlier, in my room, what I was talking about… At the negotiations, when he proposed the marriage, there was something, some bitterness in his voice. And I thought it was a hint that he was plotting something beyond what he was saying, that there was maliciousness behind the proposal. It failed to occur to me that maybe it was just _me_ causing that tone.”

“He’ll get over it when I’ve healed. He’s just protective.”

“Perhaps,” he said dubiously. Tobirama thought about Hashirama, how even though he lost two of his younger brothers, he managed to be so optimistic and forgiving. Madara… Madara wasn’t like that. Sighing, he covered his leftovers with a plate for later. “I’ll be in my room. Give Madara some of the oyakodon when he comes back, will you?” Izuna nodded, and Tobirama left.

* * *

Over the next few weeks, Tobirama slowly got used to living at the Uchiha compound. It was quieter here. He could hear children playing, and older Uchiha milling around, but the house itself had few visitors. Back home, there was always someone coming to visit Hashirama. Toka practically lived there, and even if they didn’t have guests, he had Hashirama and Mito. Here, all he had to keep him company were his books.

Even those, he’d only brought a fraction of, and with nothing else to do he finished reading them in a matter of days. Within two weeks, he’d gotten tired of re-reading them, so he’d had to ask Madara for directions to the Uchiha library. Unsurprisingly, he’d gotten directions without any comment, though his access was limited. Izuna had healed fully, but as Tobirama had suspected, that didn’t change Madara’s attitude toward him much. He was a little less belligerent, but for the most part he seemed content to let Tobirama do as he wished, so long as it didn’t have to do with him.

Madara also seemed to hate it when Tobirama spent time with Izuna. Yes, he’d wounded Izuna, but Izuna didn’t care, so really, it seemed a bit melodramatic to hold a stronger grudge than the person who’d actually been harmed. Just last week, Tobirama had gotten tired of exercising alone, and Izuna had offered to spar with him. It had been a great spar, up until the moment Madara stumbled along the scene and yelled at both of them so loudly that the other Uchiha had stayed away from that field for the rest of the day.

So Tobirama spent most of his time alone, and he was getting quite bored. He looked over at the stacks of his personal books again. Just as he was considering going to the library again, his eye fell on a pile of notebooks, and he realized. He’d been living with Madara long enough that he could, if he played his cards right, _probably_ get permission to use one (or maybe even some) of the unused rooms in the house as a lab.

Reinvigorated, Tobirama knelt down and concentrated on finding Madara. It had taken him some time to get familiar with how Madara’s chakra felt; while he knew what Madara felt like when he was agitated on the battlefield, his stay at the Uchiha compound was the first time he’d gotten a feel for Madara’s chakra when he wasn’t getting ready to fight. He wasn’t entirely unrecognizable,, retaining an edge of spontaneity, but his chakra felt almost like a whole new person outside of battle.

He felt Madara’s chakra at a field near the Uchiha’s school, along with the chakra of two unknown Uchiha children. Satisfied, he leaped up and began walking briskly towards them. As he moved through the compound, he received nods of acknowledgement from most of the Uchiha he passed and a few greetings from people he’d met through Madara or, more likely, through his trips to the store. There were a few hisses and accusations, but Tobirama was able to ignore them; it’d been far worse when he first arrived at the Uchiha compound. Weathering the insults hurled at him had been harder when they came en masse, but over time most of the Uchiha had come to accept the peace treaty with the Senju (and consequently his presence at their home).

Eventually, Madara and the kids he was with entered Tobirama’s field of vision. Madara was talking animatedly to the two kids, who were completely enraptured by whatever it was Madara was telling them. Looking at the enthusiasm with which Madara entertained the duo, Tobirama thought he was starting to understand why his brother had called the Uchiha ‘a good man’. As he walked closer, first Madara and then the children noticed him.

“Madara-sama, who’s that?”

Tobirama glanced at Madara, who looked a little put out, and decided to have a little fun. “What, husband, you haven't told them about me?" he teased as he sat down next to Madara.

“We’re not married,” grumbled Madara.

Tobirama tilted his head towards him and said lightly, “But we will be!”

Madara sighed and looked heavenward, but the children giggled, so Tobirama was satisfied. One of them, the black-haired boy, asked, “Are those your Sharingan? Why do you have them on right now? Why is your hair white? My grandpa has white hair, but he’s old! You can’t be old if you’re going to marry Madara-sama.”

Tobirama laughed. Children were so refreshing. “I’m not old, child, I’m younger than Madara. My hair has been white since I was born. As for my eyes, they are simply red. I can’t have the Sharingan”—he tapped Madara’s temple lightly, and the other man batted his hand away— “because I’m not an Uchiha.”

Both boys gasped. “You’re not?”

“Wow, Madara, you really told them nothing about me, huh?” Madara glared at him, and realizing that he wouldn’t put up with being made fun of much longer, Tobirama abandoned the jokes. “My name is Senju Tobirama. I’m here because I’ll marry Madara in the future.”

The brown-haired boy who’d been quiet looked a little uneasy. “Okaasan says that we shouldn't trust the Senju, that they’re all murderers and monsters.”

“Your _okaasan_ is wrong!”

“Madara!” Tobirama was shocked that he would speak so scathingly to a child. He turned to look straight at the brunet. “Your okaasan told you something based on her experience. Madara is correct when he says that she’s wrong, but it’s not her fault.” Tobirama hesitated, but knew that their school was basically a shinobi academy, so he continued. “You know what a shinobi is, right?”

Both boys nodded, and the brunet said, “When I’m older, I’m going to be a shinobi.”

“Me too!” cried the other boy, “I’m going to be just like Madara-sama!”

Tobirama smiled, but then grew more serious. “That’s good! Being a shinobi is an honorable occupation. The thing about it though, is that shinobi fight. Historically, the Senju and the Uchiha have always been on opposite sides of any fight. That means in the past, we’ve hurt each other. That’s why your okaasan doesn’t like the Senju, because we’ve hurt Uchiha before, but it doesn’t make us murderers or monsters. It just makes us shinobi. Does that make sense?” Both boys nodded, and Tobirama reached out to ruffle the quiet child’s brown hair. “Good. Now, you both know my name, but I don’t know yours. May I?”

The black-haired boy spoke first. “I’m Uchiha Kagami!”

“Uchiha Setsuna.”

“Nice to meet you, Kagami, Setsuna. How old are you two?” And so Tobirama took over the conversation for a few minutes until the sun started setting, at which point the children rushed home. Tobirama watched fondly as they left. “They’re cute kids.”

“They are,” said Madara. Tobirama sighed. Madara still didn’t talk much to him. He waited to see if Madara would say anything else, but when it became clear that he wouldn’t, Tobirama spoke instead.

“Madara, I was wondering if I could use some of the spare rooms in the house, or maybe even just one, as a lab? I experimented a lot at home, and it’d be super helpful and—”

“Do as you will.”

“—there could be a lot of— Wait. Really?”

Madara had already begun walking away, but he called back, “Just don’t disturb anything Izuna or I are actually using.”

“Of course.” Tobirama stared at him for a few moments, then yelled to him, “Thank you!” He didn’t know if Madara was too far away to hear it, or if he just chose not to respond, but either way, Tobirama was soon left alone. As he began walking back to the house, he reflected on how simple it had been to get permission to make a lab. He hardly even had to convince Madara, the man acquiesced so easily. Tobirama smiled to himself. His brother had been right.

* * *

Setting up the lab was a tedious process, since the rooms Tobirama decided on weren’t exactly equipped properly, but he made quick work of it. His notes from home and most of his books were moved to a shelf in the lab for ease of reference, leaving a single stack of leisure books left in his room. He even moved most of the keepsakes he’d brought from home into the lab. Truthfully, the lab was more his space than the room he slept in would ever be.

As soon as he’d finished furnishing the lab, Tobiama threw himself headfirst into his experiments. Rather than continue the work he’d been doing prior to the move, he decided to start on a new project; seeing Madara with Kagami and Setsuna had been, for lack of a less emotional word, adorable. He never would have thought he’d be saying that about Madara, but it was true. As it was, Tobirama couldn’t give him children. Hopefully, if his experiments were successful, he’d be able to change that.

He spent a few weeks almost living out of the lab, leaving just for the essentials. Yes, he was going a little overboard. But the results just seemed so promising, and he kept tweaking the experiments and repeating them and. He was going a bit more than a little overboard.

One day, Tobirama forced himself to take a break and sit in the living room with one of his leisure books. As much as he tried to relax, his mind kept going back to his experiments. When Madara walked into the living room, Tobirama leaped at the chance of an effective distraction. “Madara!” Tobirama got up and started walking with him. “What are you up to today?”

“Council meeting.”

“What for? Is something going on?”

“It’s a routine meeting. Updates on recent correspondence, alliances, other developments.”

Just what he needed. “May I join you today?”

Madara stopped where he was and looked incredulously at Tobirama. “Spouses… don’t attend council meetings.”

“Really? That seems so ineffective. Do you really talk about everything twice?”

“No…” Madara stretched the word out, confusion evident from his tone.

“How do they advise you, then?”

“They don’t.”

Now it was Tobirama’s turn to be confused. “What? Then why do you marry them?”

Madara looked away for a moment, then answered, “To have kids. Strengthen the bloodline and the Sharingan.”

“You can’t be serious.” Madara stayed silent, which was damning. Tobirama was so glad he was pursuing alternative methods of conception, because this was ridiculous. “What’s the point of marrying someone if you can’t go to them when you need something, if you can’t rely on them for support and advice?”

“Marriage serves its purpose.”

Tobirama shook his head. “Well. You said spouses don’t attend council meetings, but this spouse will.”

Madara began walking again, and Tobirama trailed after him, waiting for a response. Eventually, as they neared the meeting house, Madara said, “I suppose it can’t hurt.”

“Perfect!”

The two of them stepped inside, where the council members were waiting. They looked warily at Tobirama, who followed Madara to the head of the table. “Tobirama will be joining our meeting today,” said Madara. He then looked at the single chair left and sighed. “We’ll have to find another chair for you…”

“No need, husband.”

“Tobirama, we are not married.”

“Yet!” With that, Tobirama pushed Madara into the chair. “There you go, and I can just—” He perched himself on the armrest, supporting himself with a hand across the back of the chair. Madara leaned forward to avoid resting on Tobirama’s arm. It was a little uncomfortable, but Tobirama didn’t want to cause any more of a delay than he already had by requesting another chair. On the bright side, he had a clear view of the papers on the table, which would be useful during the meeting.

“Now that that’s settled, we should begin.” Madara began talking through all the recent developments. Tobirama focused more on the papers, because he knew he was missing context for most of what Madara would talk about, and he preferred _not_ to interrupt to ask questions he could easily find the answers to himself.

As Madara began talking about a trade offer from the Yamanaka clan, Tobirama perked up and listened closer. “The offer is very vague, they don’t specify what they’re looking to trade.”

A council member near the other end of the table said, “Well, if they can’t be clear with us, we probably shouldn’t agree to anything with them.”

Tobirama winced. “That would be a wasted opportunity. The Yamanaka clan is informally allied with the Akimichi and Nara clans, and a trade agreement with one almost definitely means a trade agreement with all three of them. Admittedly, the Yamanaka don’t have much to offer materially, but having some kind of agreement with them could help us possibly bring them into our village, when we have one?”

The Uchiha looked at him with wide eyes. It was clear they hadn’t been considering the future benefits as much as making decisions based solely on the immediate results. “Having the Yamanaka join the village is a bit far, I know, but it’s probably worth investing in. Also, the Akimichi and the Nara would be materially valuable trade partners, so having an agreement with the Yamanaka would likely be worth it for that alone.”

“How do you know that?”

“The Akimichi specialize in shinobi supplementals which are quite effective, and the Nara have a great amount of medical knowledge and remedies.”

Madara shook his head. “No, I mean, _how_ do you know that?”

“Oh, it’s in there,” said Tobirama, leaning forward to grab a sheaf of papers which he’d finished reading earlier. In doing so, he leaned into Madara, who tensed a little but took the papers from him anyway. As Madara began looking through the reports, Tobirama continued, “Well, I know _what_ the Akimichi and Nara specialize in because Hashirama never shuts up about it, but the bit about the informal alliance was in there.”

“He’s right,” said Madara, having found the relevant page. He passed it to the Uchiha next to him, who read through it and passed it on himself. As the report made its way around the table, Madara murmured, “Thank you.”

Tobirama patted his shoulder and leaned back. “This is why spouses attend council meetings.” Madara’s face contorted. He looked… thoughtful? That was certainly new.

The rest of the meeting went by slowly, nothing even half as interesting as this occurring. The meeting wasn’t as great of a distraction as Tobirama hoped it would be, but at least something positive came of it. Once the meeting ended, the pair made to leave, but they were stopped by an older Uchiha with a cane. Madara bowed, and Tobirama followed just a beat behind him.

“Senju-san. Thank you for your contributions during the meeting.”

Tobirama bowed again to the older man. “I was simply doing my duty, Uchiha-san.”

“Nevertheless, it is appreciated. Now, may I borrow Madara for a few moments?”

“Of course.” Tobirama turned to Madara and asked, “Should I wait outside?”

“Don’t bother,” Madara said as he followed the other Uchiha to the side. Tobirama walked slowly back to the house, his good mood shattered by the abrupt dismissal.

* * *

That night, when Tobirama left his room for a snack, he found Madara drinking in the living room. Izuna was nowhere to be seen. Madara was drinking alone? No, that wouldn’t do. Silently, Tobirama grabbed another ceramic cup and sat on the floor across from Madara. Madara continued sipping his sake without acknowledging Tobirama’s presence. Frowning, Tobirama poured himself some sake and set the flask down.

“Hello, husband!”

“We aren’t married.”

“Mmm, but we will be!” Madara grumbled something lowly. It was likely another perfunctory objection, so Tobirama didn’t address it. Instead, he asked, “What has you drinking alone at this time of night?”

“It’s not that late.”

Tobirama sighed and sipped at his sake. It was warm, a little sweet. Not good enough to drink purely for pleasure. “What has you drinking alone?”

Madara didn’t respond immediately. Tobirama looked up and noticed a slight redness to his cheeks. How long had he already been drinking? Before he could ask, Madara answered, “Something Elder Suzu said.”

Tobirama wasn’t entirely sure who Elder Suzu was, but he had more important questions. “What did he say?”

Madara reached clumsily for the flask. Tobirama swiped it up before he could, and poured for Madara. Madara drank some more sake, then said sullenly, “He thinks I’ve found a good spouse. Someone who gives me the balance he thought I’d lost.”

Tobirama could feel his cheeks getting hot. He ducked his head and finished his sake, setting the empty cup down on the table. “That’s great, that even the elders are approving of this arrangement!”

Madara stayed quiet. He ignored the empty cup in front of him. Grimacing, Tobirama poured himself another cup, then asked softly, “Do you still resent me for hurting your brother?”

Madara snorted and muttered, “Hashirama would never have.”

“Hashirama? What does Hashirama have to do with this?”

“Oh, absolutely nothing at all,” he spat, “Just that Elder Suzu thinks you’re _perfect_ ”—Tobirama winced at the hate with which Madara said the word—”for me. You and Hashirama are as different from each other as is possible. It wasn’t enough that I’m _not_ with him, it had to be that I never _could have_ been with him?”

Tobirama froze. “You… and… Hashirama?” Madara’s eyes went wide, but Tobirama hardly noticed, his mind was working in overdrive. If Madara had been enamoured with his brother, why— Oh. “That’s why you wanted me here. It was always just about hurting him, that’s why you never cared.”

Madara made a few aborted sounds, as though he was trying to say something but couldn’t figure out how. Tobirama didn’t feel like listening to him. He shot down his full cup of sake and set it firmly on the table. Blinking back tears, Tobirama walked away from Madara.


	3. Madara

Madara was staring. Ever since the night he found out why Madara had chosen to marry him, Tobirama had been exceptionally quiet. Part of him was surprised, having half-expected that Tobirama would go running off to his brother to reveal Madara’s nefarious ulterior motives. The other part of him was painfully amused. It seemed the one thing the two men had incommon was their inability to truly break Hashirama’s heart.

Tobirama hadn’t spoken to Hashirama since that night, but he hadn’t spoken to Madara either. He sequestered himself in his lab, coming out only for necessities. Even then, he’d only say a few words in passing to Izuna. In the week since Madara’s drunken revelation, Tobirama hadn’t said a single word to him. Currently, Tobirama was reading a book on the couch. Madara had been in the living room when Tobirama came in, but the other man didn’t so much as greet him.

Watching as Tobirama silently flipped pages, Madara realized it was on him to fix this. The peace treaty was vulnerable as it was, it didn’t need Tobirama and Madara’s engagement to be dissolved on top of it. The situation was made worse by the fact that there was a check in meeting in just a few days. Madara needed to fix his mistake, and fix it fast. The only problem was, he had no clue how to do that.

Madara furrowed his brows and looked around as though something in the common space would give him a hint. Surprisingly, it did. When Madara refocused on the book that Tobirama was reading, he realized it was one he’d seen him reading last month as well. That was something. He could use that.

Madara rose abruptly, eliciting a startled glance from Tobirama. He waited in case Tobirama decided now would be the time to break his silence. When he went back to reading, Madara pursed his lips. Expected, but still disappointing. Madara made his way to the Uchiha library and found the woman he was looking for amidst the stacks, reshelving some books. “Sora, there you are!”

“Madara-sama,” she said, bowing. “How can I help you?”

“I was looking to gain access to the entire collection of materials we have here for Tobirama.”

“You didn’t have to come request for that in person, Madara-sama. If you’d just sent a messenger I could have handled it.”

“That takes time, and I was hoping to have this done immediately.”

Sora winced and looked calculatingly at the overflowing cart of books she’d been working on prior to Madara’s arrival. Resignedly, she said, “Of course, Madara-sama. Come back to my office, it’s where I keep all the forms.”

“Actually, I was thinking I could stay out here while you complete the necessary paperwork?” Sora frowned for a moment, just until Madara’s next words registered. “I’m sure I could make myself more useful by reshelving some of those books.”

“Oh! I couldn’t ask that of you.”

“I’m afraid I must insist, Sora. I wouldn’t want you to be late getting home because of my last minute request.” He looked meaningfully at the orange-streaked sky.

“Well, if you insist, who am I to stop you?” With that, Sora went back to her office, and Madara began organizing the books. Inexperienced in the system of the library, Madara worked slowly. He’d hardly gotten halfway through the cart when Sora came looking for him.

“I just had a quick question,” said Sora, leading him back to her office. “You said you wanted Tobirama-san to have access to the full library?”

“Yes,” said Madara, wondering what exactly her question was.

“Even the shrine collection?”

Ah. The Uchiha didn’t interact much with those outside their clan, but in the rare event someone from a different clan did come to their library, there were certain works those outsiders couldn’t read. For safekeeping, they were stored at the Uchiha’s ceremonial shrine, hence the name. “Even the shrine collection. And can you make sure he has access to the shrine as well?”

Sora stared incredulously at him. “Are you sure, Madara-sama? Giving a Senju access to the shrine…”

“He was born a Senju, but he is marrying me. He will be an Uchiha, therefore I trust him like one.” Sora nodded and finished filling out the last of the forms. As he waited, Madara thought, ‘And if that trust is misplaced, well. Hopefully he can’t learn too much in a week.”

* * *

The next day, after attending another council meeting, Madara returned home and looked around for Tobirama. By the time Madara had come home the previous night, Tobirama had retired from the living room, and Madara didn’t want to intrude in his personal space. Thankfully, Madara found Tobirama working in his lab, the door left wide open. He watched silently until Tobirama came to a stopping point. “Can I come in?”

Tobirama bit his lip. “Sure.”

Madara walked in and looked around. It was far cleaner a space than he could ever get his office to be. His gaze fell on the bookshelves which lined the wall. Madara ran his hand over the spines of the books. Facing away from Tobirama, he said, “You have full access to our library now; I talked to the librarian and she knows to let you get anything you ask for.”

“Madara…” Behind him, Tobirama let out an audible sigh. He walked over to where Madara was still looking at the books and gently turned him around. Tobirama looked at Madara straight in the eyes and said, “You don’t need to bribe me to keep me compliant. I knew what I signed up for when I agreed to this.”

Madara looked down and mumbled, “It’s not a bribe.”

“And you aren’t in love with my brother.” Tobirama said it genially, but Madara still flinched. He wished terribly that he hadn’t gotten complacent enough to let that slip.

“Just wanted to let you know about the library. Sorry if I bothered you.” Madara walked out. Tobirama followed, closing the lab door behind him.

“Come,” Tobirama said, brushing past Madara. “You can make us lunch."

Madara hid a smile as he complied. His not-bribe, unsubtle as it was, seemed to have worked.

* * *

After that, Tobirama went back to interacting amicably with Madara. When it came time for the peace treaty meeting, Madara forwent bringing any of his clan members with him, save for Tobirama. He would have brought Izuna, but he’d gone on a mission and hadn’t returned yet. The rest of his more trusted clan members were similarly busy, since Madara hadn’t instituted another lockdown for his meeting the way he had for the first one.

As Madara and Tobirama walked into the clearing, they were met by Hashirama and Mito. Hashirama rushed to his brother, almost knocking him over in his haste to give him a hug. While they reunited, Madara was left to talk to Mito.

“Thank you for bringing Tobi,” she said as she looked fondly at the two brothers. “My husband has missed him terribly.”

“I couldn’t have left him behind,” replied Madara.

“No, I suppose not.”

Tobirama and Hashirama joined them, and before anyone else could, Madara asked, “Can we get the business over with first?” Hashirama pouted but acquiesced. “Is there anything that we need to change? Any issues we’ve encountered?” Hashirama answered, and so a productive conversation was had by the two clan heads. Occasionally Mito would remind her husband of some detail he’d forgotten to mention, or Tobirama would pipe up with some observation that Madara hadn’t noticed, but for the most part it was just Madara and Hashirama talking.

The review of the peace treaty was thankfully short, with minimal adjustments made in response to the issues each clan had noticed. Once that was over, Hashirama turned to Tobirama and asked, “And how’s your engagement been, otouto?” Madara tensed. He and Tobirama were no longer awkward around each other, and Tobirama _said_ he wouldn’t cause any issues regarding Madara’s motives, but if there was any time for Tobirama to break that promise, it would be now.

“It’s been well,” said Tobirama with a smile. Madara let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. Tobirama glanced sidelong at him and continued, “The Uchiha are good people, and they’ve treated me politely.”

Hashirama grinned. “You be good to him, Madara!” Madara rolled his eyes at Hashirama’s joy.

“I wasn’t until now, but of course, you demanding that is going to change my whole attitude,” said Madara dryly. Hashirama cackled. Ignoring Hashirama’s antics, Madara got up and moved to rest by a tree, leaving Tobirama and his family to talk privately. He could still see them, but they were firmly out of earshot.

Not a minute had passed when Tobirama’s face suddenly turned stony. Madara sat up straighter. Tobirama, without a word, stormed away from his brother, even past where Madara was waiting. He disappeared into the trees. Madara looked in the direction Tobirama had gone in, and then back to where Mito was yelling at Hashirama. As amusing as it was to see a sullen Hashirama being reprimanded by a woman a head and a half shorter than him, Madara knew he couldn’t stay where he was.

Madara followed after Tobirama, finding him sitting and staring at the ground just beyond sight of the clearing. His jaw was clenched, hands pulling up clumps of the grass around him. Madara kneeled down next to him and touched his back lightly. His other hand lay on top of one of Tobirama’s restless ones, and the other man stilled.

“What happened?” Tobirama didn’t respond, which was unlike him. He’d never been so withdrawn before, not before the engagement, not even during that week-long period when he’d been ignoring Madara. “Tobirama…” His fingers curled around Tobirama’s, and the other man jerked his whole body away.

“If you really want to know,” gritted out Tobirama, “go ask my brother.”

The spite in his voice shocked Madara. He had never heard Tobirama like this. And he couldn’t just leave him, not while he was so volatile. He sat in silence with Tobirama for a few more minutes, and once he seemed more like his usual self, Madara asked, “Do you want to talk to them any more today?”

“No.”

“Alright. Let me wrap things up quickly, and then we can head home.” Madara turned away, brushing his hand over Tobirama’s shoulder in the process. He headed back into the clearing to be met by the sight of Hashirama embracing Mito, who was reassuring her husband.

Seeing Mito, Madara realized he couldn’t see himself like that. He wants to work with Hashirama, he wants peace and their dream of a village to exist. While he wants all of that, he doesn't want to be Mito, always at his side. He didn’t actually _want_ Hashirama anymore.

While he stood frozen, processing that realization, the duo had noticed his presence and come to approach him. Hashirama sheepishly asked, “How’s Tobi?”

“He’s…” He certainly wasn’t doing _okay_ , but what else could he say? “He’s alright. We’re about to leave, actually, I just wanted to let the both of you know that.” Hashirama nodded, and Madara knew if he wanted answers, he had to ask now.

“What’d you say to him that made him so angry?”

“I just asked how the engagement was treating him!”

“You already asked that earlier though?”

Mito cut in, “That’s what Tobi said too, only then this numbskull”—she elbowed Hashirama in the ribs—”thought it was a good idea to ask him _‘How’s the engagement treating you?’_ ” As she recounted the question Hashirama asked, she contorted her face, waggling her eyebrows and adding in a wink at the end for good measure.

Madara bristled, his hands clenched into fists but otherwise kept still. “I have half a mind to punch you, and the _only_ reason I am refraining is because this meeting is part of a peace treaty. Had we been anywhere else... Kami, Hashirama, you can’t seriously have thought asking him something so idiotically insensitive was a good idea. He only agreed to this marriage because _you_ asked him, and you’re just going to throw that back in his face like this?”

Hashirama’s eyes went wide, as though Madara really had hit him. “But… I thought…” Hashirama looked so heartbroken, but Madara’s heart didn’t twinge sympathetically the way it used to. “Why would you ask to marry him if you weren’t going to be happy?!”

Madara knows exactly why, and he’s not telling Hashirama that reason. But also, that’s the thing, he’s not _unhappy_. He’s not obsessive the way he was with Hashirama, but he feels content. Over time, he’s gotten used to Tobirama, his quiet but steady presence around the house, how he works constantly, the way his affected politeness transforms into exuberance around the few ~~children~~ people he likes. Tobirama slotted into his life perfectly, instead of upending it the way Hashirama would have. Elder Suzu was right. Tobirama did balance him.

Rather than answering Hashirama's question, Madara simply shook his head. “You should know the answer to that.” He nodded respectfully to Mito, then walked back to where he’d left Tobirama.

“Ready to go?” asked Madara as he offered him his hand. Tobirama took it to pull himself up.

“I’ve been ready,” he replied.


	4. Tobirama

Tobirama didn’t talk about what happened, and Madara thankfully didn’t ask. He was pretty sure Madara had talked to Hashirama, but as long as Tobirama didn’t have to talk about it, he didn’t care what Madara knew. The two of them returned home with little fanfare. Izuna still hadn’t returned, so it was just the two of them. Tobirama made a beeline for the bath, wanting to get clean and relax after the mess of a day he’d had.

Kami, he was so tired. Not only did he have to play the dutiful husband to an unwilling partner, but then he had to deal with his brother’s ridiculous insinuations. As if Madara would even think about him like that when he was in love with Hashirama. He had no idea how Hashirama missed it. Tobirama sighed and tried to focus on the warmth of the water he was submerged in.

He spent well over an hour in the bath, but eventually it began to cool down and he was forced to get out. With wrinkled fingers, he grabbed his towel, dried off, and got dressed. Tobirama walked back into the living room and found Madara sitting on the couch. He must have also taken a bath, his hair lay flat on his face and— It was dripping? Tobirama winced at the wet spot forming on the couch behind Madara. There was a towel in his hand, but Madara wouldn’t like that. Instead of throwing his towel at Madara, Tobirama went all the way to the closet to grab a new one. He handed it politely to Madara “You’re getting water everywhere.”

“Apologies,” said Madara, accepting the towel. Tobirama nodded curtly and moved to leave, but Madara called out and stopped him. “Don’t make dinner tonight.”

Tobirama turned to look incredulously at Madara. “I’m sorry?”

“Shit, no, that’s not what I meant.” Madara sighed. “Look, it’s been a long day. I’m tired, you probably are too. I’ll just get something from the clan restaurant for tonight, so don’t worry about having to make something.”

Tobirama relaxed and nodded. He settled on the couch with one of his new books. Madara finished drying his hair, then left to go get the food. Tobirama got so lost in his reading that he almost didn’t notice when Madara returned. However, it was impossible to miss the mountain of food Madara had brought back.

“Are we expecting guests?” Madara shook his head as he unpacked it all. “That’s a lot of sushi for two people.”

“Not really,” said Madara, setting out plates and chopsticks for both of them. Tobirama put his book aside and joined Madara on the floor. There were more types of sushi in front of him than he had known existed. Carefully, Tobirama served himself one of each, and began eating. Madara did the same. As they ate, Madara said, “Your brother shouldn’t have said what he did.”

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Tobirama—”

“Shouldn’t you be defending him?” snapped Tobirama. He knew his words came out too bitter, but he couldn’t hold it back. “After all, you are _in love_ with him.”

Madara winced and looked down at his chopsticks. Quietly, he replied, “Not anymore, no.”

Tobirama didn’t know how to respond to that, so he simply didn’t. The two of them ate in silence for a few minutes until Madara hesitantly said, “Can I ask something of you?”

Tobirama tensed. “What is it?”

“I have to leave for a mission the day after tomorrow.” Upon hearing the topic, Tobirama relaxed. “I was hoping to delay it until Izuna got back, but it’s for these impatient civilian nobles. If he comes back while I’m gone, could you keep him company?”

“Of course,” replied Tobirama immediately. “How long will you be gone?”

“A week at the very least, but it’ll likely be longer. It depends on how their meeting goes. If they can’t come to an agreement at all, we won’t be there for very long, but otherwise I’ll have to stay until they finalize their treaty.”

Under his breath, Tobirama muttered, “Is it wrong of me to hope their treaty falls through?” Madara chuckled, and Tobirama flushed. He hadn’t meant for him to hear that. Quickly, he changed the topic, and they continued conversing as they ate.

Soon, most of the food was gone. Tobirama began serving himself a few final pieces of sushi. He reached for the last piece of maki a second after Madara did. Madara’s hand froze above the serving platter, and then he drew back. “You go ahead.”

Tobirama shook his head. “No, I couldn’t. You got there first, it’s yours.” Tobirama pulled his hand away from the food on the table. For a moment, Madara stayed still, then he grabbed the roll deftly with his chopsticks. Quickly pivoting his wrist, he deposited the maki on Tobirama’s plate. He didn’t say anything, just served himself some nigiri. Tobirama ducked his head and quickly ate something to try and hide his grin.

After the two of them had finished all the food, Tobirama groaned. “I suppose I was wrong. Two men can eat that much food.”

Madara laughed. “I knew what I was doing when I ordered it.” He started stacking the sushi boxes. “You can head to bed, I’ll take care of cleaning up.”

“Thank you, Madara.” Tired and satisfied as he was, Tobirama couldn’t bring himself to question the other man’s sudden kindness. He returned to his room, lingering for just a moment to watch Madara, and fell asleep as soon as he got into bed.

* * *

The morning of Madara’s mission, Tobirama was awoken before dawn by the sounds of Madara packing. He blearily made his way out of his room, and saw Madara about to leave. “Take care,” he said lightly. The corner of Madara’s lips flicked up. He nodded in acknowledgement before walking out the door.

Tobirama rubbed his eyes with palms. It was early, and he really ought to go back to sleep, but he felt restless. He decided that if he was going to stay up, he might as well get some work done. Tobirama went to his lab and as he walked in, his eyes fell on the top of his bookshelf where his few keepsakes from home lay. His hand hovered over one. Should he… Tobirama pocketed the item and ran out of the house.

He caught up with Madara just at the edge of the Uchiha compound. “Madara!”

“Tobirama? What are you doing out here?”

Tobirama drew his hand from his pocket and dropped something into Madara’s hand. It was a necklace, a simple chain with a muted red crystal hanging from it. “I wanted you to have this. I used to take it with me on missions, but since I can’t go on any while I’m here, I’d rather you take it with you.”

When Madara didn’t respond immediately, Tobirama turned and ran back home. It was cowardly, but he would rather Madara be forced to keep the necklace than risk hearing him devalue the gift.

Tobirama meant to go back to his lab, but the restless energy he’d had when he woke up had vanished. He dropped onto the couch and went back to sleep.

* * *

The next few weeks were rather lonely. They may not have spent all their time together, but Tobirama had gotten used to having Madara around, and the lack of his presence made Tobirama feel too isolated. On top of his regular exercise routine and his experimentation, Tobirama took to walking around the compound daily. By this point, the Uchiha had gotten used to having a Senju live with them, and they all treated him politely. Tobirama wouldn’t walk the same route each day, preferring to instead vary where he went and who he saw. More often than not, he ended up passing by the Uchiha’s school, coincidentally at the time when the children were being let out. Kagami and Setsuna sought him out the first time he stopped by, and soon their friends had joined them in their routine conversation with Tobirama.

When Izuna came back a little over a week into Madara’s absence, Tobirama changed his routine a little to adhere to Madara’s request. Rather than walk by the school in the evenings, he would go during the children’s free practice hour, where he could talk to them and help them learn at the same time.

His evenings, he reserved to spar with Izuna. It was a far different experience than fighting him on the battlefield. There, both men were fighting with deadly intent. Here, they couldn't utilize their more lethal techniques. That didn’t make their fights any less intense; to compensate for the downgrade in lethality, both men got more creative with their foundational skills.

It was during one such spar that Tobirama felt Madara silently watching them. He’d been using his sensing technique to search for Izuna when he felt the familiar chakra at the edge of the field that they were sparring on. Tobirama changed tactics then, going from a relaxed spar to a more forceful strategy. Izuna, caught off guard, lost quickly.

“If you’re losing to a shinobi that hasn’t been active in months, I think you need to train more, brother.”

Izuna beamed. “Madara!” Tobirama let him out of his grasp, and Izuna ran to his brother. Tobirama hung back, giving the two of them space to reunite. He picked up the weapons scattered across the field, separating his from Izuna’s. Suddenly, Izuna appeared and grabbed his pile.

“Thanks, Tobirama! I’ll see you two back at home!” Saying that, Izuna bounded away, leaving him alone with Madara. Tobirama put down the last few weapons he’d gathered and turned around to face Madara.

The first thing he noticed was that Madara was missing his mission gear. He’d gone home before coming looking for them. Good. Tobirama would have had to drag the other man there if he hadn’t.

The second thing he noticed was that Madara was wearing the necklace. It was hidden beneath his shirt, but Tobirama could see the chain peeking out at the back of his neck. Madara walked closer to him, and Tobirama closed the distance. “You’re back,” he said softly. His hand rested on Madara’s chest, just on top of the lump where the crystal pendant lay.

“I am. Unfortunately, their treaty negotiations lasted longer than we’d hoped.” Madara put one hand on top of his, and Tobirama gulped. He’d never been more aware of his heartbeat than he was in this moment.

“You’re wearing the necklace.”

“Did you think I wouldn’t? Clearly, it’s important to you, if you chased after me that early in the morning. I just wish you hadn’t left without explaining why.”

Tobirama bit his lips before saying, “My father gave it to me when I was really young, just before I started going out on missions. It was—” Tobirama hesitated, then looked apologetically at Madara. “I mean, you know what it was like then, you experienced the same thing here. The hatred between the Senju and the Uchiha was at its worst, and there I was.” Tobirama gestured at his eyes and continued, “The rest of the Senju, they hated me. They were never explicit about it, they couldn’t insult the clan head’s son like that, but it was still obvious. Getting this necklace was the first time my red eyes were ever celebrated. Father gave it to me and told me I wasn't an enemy, that my eyes didn’t define who I would be. I was a good person, even with red eyes. The necklace was a reminder that there were people who knew that, even when I was ostracized by the rest of the clan.”

“I can’t keep this.” Madara reached back to unclasp the necklace. Tobirama shot his hand out to stop him.

“No, no, I gave it to you, it’s yours.”

“Tobirama, you’ll go on missions again, You may not be able to right now but this isn’t forever.”

Tobirama shook his head. “I know, but that doesn’t change anything.” Madara frowned. Tobirama stroked the pendant with his fingers and said, “I didn’t just give this to you because you were going on a mission when I couldn’t. When I was gifted it, I was told that I could be a good person even with red eyes. I gave this to you as a reminder that there are good people with red eyes on both sides. I’ll be happy if you keep it.”

Madara squeezed his hand lightly. Tobirama let himself enjoy it for a split second, then stepped away and gathered his weapons. “We should head back, Izuna must be waiting.”

The duo began walking home in companionable silence. At one point Tobirama said quietly, “You know, you’re the only person alive other than myself who knows about the necklace.” Madara gave him a shocked look. “I mean, Hashirama knows it exists, but. He’s always been optimistic, even, or rather, especially so when we were younger. He never picked up on how the rest of the clan viewed me, and I never told him. He thinks I just wear it because Father gave it to me.”

Madara looked contemplative. He played with the pendant the rest of the way home. Once they got inside, Madara stopped Tobirama and asked, “Is dinner cooked, or do we have to do that still?”

“It’s not yet, but Izuna’s cooking, since he lost today.”

“Perfect. Come with me?” Bemused, Tobirama followed Madara to the lab.

“What are you doing?”

“I do apologize for entering the lab while you weren’t here, but I made sure not to touch anything of yours.”

“Madara, what…” He trailed off as he looked inside the lab and saw some top-level experimental equipment sitting innocuously on the counter.

As he took in the sight, Madara said, “The nobles I was working for do some work with labs of their own, and I thought I’d get some as a gift—OOF!” Madara was abruptly cut off as Tobirama tackled him in a hug.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!” Madara’s arms slowly curled around Tobirama, as though he was unused to being hugged. Tobirama would have to work on rectifying that, starting now. He pulled back, cheeks red from excitement and said, “Oooh, now I want to start working using this new equipment. Madara, what have you done?”

Madara laughed. “At least eat dinner first.”

* * *

The next morning, Tobirama woke up and immediately wanted to go to the lab. However, he knew if he went in he wouldn’t come out for the rest of the day, and he didn’t want to miss seeing the children without an explanation. He resigned himself to waiting until the evening to begin running the more advanced experiments.

When he went to the kitchen, Madara was already there making breakfast. Tobirama leaned against the counter to watch him. “Shouldn’t you be resting? You got back from a long-term mission _yesterday_.”

“I hardly did anything, there were so few attacks. If they weren’t nobles, I would have sent one of our other shinobi.”

“If you say so.”

Madara turned off the stove and served each of them a bowl of miso soup and a bowl of fried rice with an egg. As they ate, Madara asked, “How’d you spend your time, while I was gone?”

“I haven’t changed much? Most of the day, I’m in the lab, but I spar in the evenings with Izuna. I’ve also begun taking a mid-morning walk each day. You’re free to join me, if you wish.”

Madara murmured his agreement, and they finished their breakfast in silence. After they’d cleaned up, Madara disappeared for an hour, but returned right as Tobirama was getting ready to go. Madara looked at the sword Tobirama had slung on his back, then asked, “Are you not going on your walk today?”

“No, I am.” Tobirama set out with Madara at his side.

“Do you always bring your sword with you on a walk?”

Tobirama smiled shrewdly at him and stayed silent. Madara grumbled at not getting an answer, but didn’t press further. When they reached the school, the children came running up to them.

“Hi Tobi-san! Who’d you bring with— Oh! Madara-sama!” The first kid bowed, and it was like a ripple through his friends, all of whom bowed once they saw Madara.

Well, all but one. Kagami ran up to Madara without hesitation and hugged him. The child was short enough that he was essentially clinging to Madara’s legs. Madara simply laughed, then carefully extricated himself from the child. Turning to the rest of them, he said, “No need for that. I’m just here with Tobirama today, you don’t need to be reserved.”

Slowly, the kids started practicing as they normally did, though they still occasionally glanced Madara’s way. Kagami stayed by Madara’s side, chattering away, and Madara looked at Tobirama, who was trying (and failing) to hold back his laughter. “May I assume this newfound physicality is your doing?” Through laughs, Tobirama nodded.

Setsuna came up to Tobirama and asked, “Tobirama-san, can you check my stance again?”

“Yes, Setsuna, I can. And I’ve told you that you can call me Tobi-san, you don’t have to be so formal.” Setsuna didn’t acknowledge his statement, only went through his sword forms again. Tobirama heard Madara laughing in the back, either at Tobirama’s own clingy child, or at something Kagami said. He didn’t turn back to look, choosing to focus fully on Setsuna. Satisfied that the child’s stances were correct, Tobirama pulled out his own sword to teach Setsuna more.

After a while, the bell rang to summon the kids back inside. Tobirama ruffled Setsuna’s hair and let him go. He went back to Madara, who was being hugged yet again by Kagami. His teacher called for the students a second time, and Kagami let go and sprinted back. Madara smiled at the child’s antics. As they walked home, he said to Tobirama, “You’d be a good teacher. You’re good with children, very patient.”

“You’re not half-bad yourself, Madara. I certainly didn’t expect that when I first got here.”

“I had practice from dealing with my brothers. And I always wanted…” He trailed off. “Well, it doesn’t matter now.” Tobirama thought he knew what Madara was going to say, and he wanted so badly to tell him about what he was trying to do in the lab, but he knew it would crush him if it didn’t work.

Instead, he offered, “Yeah, I also learned how to handle kids from Kawarama and Itama. And I suppose Toka, too. Wrangling her was harder than dealing with both of my brothers combined. She’s still a hellion now.”

“You know, I didn’t know you and Hashirama had a sister.”

“Hm? We don’t.”

Madara furrowed his brows. “But you called Toka _imouto_ , when you first left…”

“Oh! I can’t believe you remember that from the one time you met her. No, she’s our little cousin. Her parents were killed, and Hashirama and I missed having younger siblings around. Not that she replaced either of our brothers, but, we’re close.”

“Do you miss her?”

“All the time. It’s better now, I have more to do, but I missed her and Hashirama and Mito terribly when I first got here.”

“For what it’s worth, I’m sorry I made you leave them behind.”

Tobirama shrugged. “I don’t mind too much. Like I said, I miss them, but I’ve also gotten used to living here. I’ll definitely be happier when we form a village and move everyone closer together.”

“Hopefully, that’ll be soon.”

“Hopefully,” agreed Tobirama.

* * *

Soon, Madara and Tobirama established a routine together. They’d eat breakfast together and go on a walk, then they’d split their individual ways. Tobirama would go to the lab until the evening, while Madara took care of clan head business. In the evening, they’d spar, and Izuna would join sometimes. They went like this for a few months, until one day Tobirama didn’t show up for their evening spar.

Tobirama was still in his lab, and he didn’t notice the time. “Oh, Kami,” he muttered in shock. He stumbled back, knocking into some glassware with his elbow. It fell to the floor and shattered.

“Tobirama? Are you alright in there?” Tobirama didn’t respond, and Madara walked in. “Tobirama? Tobirama!”

He snapped out of it. “Madara. Madara, I did it! It should actually work!”

“What are you talking about?”

“You were so good with Kagami and Setsuna that first time, and I thought it was a pity you couldn’t have kids because you were marrying me and then I thought ‘ _What if we could?’_ and that’s what I’ve been working on this whole time and Madara, it finally looks like it’ll work!”

“You did what?”

Tobirama’s excitement faltered. “I made it so we could have kids, if you want.” His voice was small as he asked, “You don’t like it?”

Madara just stared at him. “You… You made it so we can…”

Tobirama was on the verge of apologizing when all of a sudden, he had an armful of Madara and. Madara was kissing him. Madara was kissing him?!

Madara pulled back just as suddenly as he kissed Tobirama and started babbling excitedly. “Tobirama, this changes everything! God, I love you. We can have kids now, but this is bigger than us! If anyone can have kids, women don’t have to be non-combatants anymore, and we can finally—” Madara stopped abruptly. “Oh, shit. Oh, no no no no.”

Tobirama had been trying to process the fact that Madara. Just. Kissed. Him. But when he saw the panic on Madara’s face, he reacted instinctively and grabbed Madara’s wrist. “What was that?” he asked calmly ~~more calmly than he felt~~.

Madara pulled away. His cheeks were red, and he was looking anywhere but directly at Tobirama. He stayed silent, and Tobirama whined, “Husband.”

“We’re not married,” mumbled Madara, still panicking.

“Yet.” Tobirama was calmer, now. He knew where he stood, and where Madara stood. Grabbing Madara’s wrist again, he repeated, “What was that?”

Madara didn’t answer, but Tobirama didn’t expect him to. Rather than let him pull away again, Tobirama leaned in and kissed Madara lightly. Drawing back, he asked teasingly, “What was that you were saying about the kunoichi?”

Madara stared at Tobirama in shock for a split second, then, completely ignoring the question, leaped forward to kiss him again. This time, he didn’t draw away. Instead, he pulled himself closer to Tobirama and deepened the kiss. The countertop was digging into Tobirama’s back, and there was shattered glass a foot from them, but Tobirama didn’t care. He kissed Madara back fervently. Only when the other man began tugging at his shirt did Tobirama stop kissing him. Laughing lightly, he said, “Not in the lab, Madara.”

At that, Madara disentangled himself from Tobirama and began literally dragging him out of the lab. Tobirama let himself be pulled into Madara’s room and pushed onto the bed, where Madara joined him. Satisfied, he reached up to kiss him again.

* * *

* * *

* * *

EPILOGUE

“Hello, husband.”

“We’re not married.”

“No,” said Madara, looking out at the gathered crowd. All the clans of the village looked back at him. “But we will be.”


End file.
